WMages

If I dye a holster that has to be sewn before wet molding, will the dye stain my lighter colored thread? If so is there a yaw to prevent this from happening? I normally seal my leather a couple coats before sewing to limit this issue. I'm not sure how to proceed to make a wet form type. Thanks

Hi kgg. Currently, I'm 206 thread on top and bottom, with a 23 needle. I'm sewing on about two thicknesses of 9-10. The machine came (second hand) with larger thread and a #25 needle. Actually, I have had better results. It seems that I needed to let the presser foot lift and the needle in the appropriate upward position. For a hand stitch machine with a rate of one stitch per revolution, things happen pretty quickly. I'm actually getting the hang of guiding the material with only one hand. I think mostly I just need more practice.

I'm a new leather worker who has waded off into the craft more deeply and more suddenly than I had originally intended. After wet molding a Buck folding knife scabbard, my true first project was a basket weave 2" layered Ranger Duty belt to wear late in my career. I was profoundly shocked at how it turned out for my first build. I hand stitched that belt and while I truly love to saddle stitch, I can tell arthritis will become an issue at my age. I next bought a Cowboy 797 and made some belts on it followed by a Weaver Cub. While I've practiced a little with the Cub, I find it a little daunting still and have procrastinated using it on a serious project. But I did find on my first real attempt, when the thread tension fubared, I removed the thread and hand stitched as the stitch holes were perfect. On one more project, I used the Cub without thread just to punch a clean stitch line. This thread is giving me the confidence to see what I can do with it. I know now that if I stay in this craft, and likely will, I will one day step up to Class IV because historically, that's how I progress at things. But it seems other than having a reverse stitch, the Cub should do much of the same tasks as the Class IV at least for the heavy hobby user. I am still having difficulty turning my material 180 degrees to try to back stitch. Even with the needle down and lifting the presser foot, it sometimes seems the thread wants to bind and twist around the needle. I'm not sure back stitching is totally possible and certainly not sure I'm going about it correctly. If I can learn to make that happen, I think this Cub might do about all I need to do with thicker leather.

Hi Dwight. I Primarily carry a Gen 5 Glock 17 (without optics) but periodically carry my Sig p220. I have a couple of leather holsters, that both will fit in with the Glock being the more snug of the two. So it's a pattern for the Glock 17 I'm looking for. I'm going to try to lay one out this morning using Sam Andrews method to measure and put it on a center line but I want to design in a sturdy thumb break. I'm planning on using an body side outer sleeve of leather (similar to how Safariland used to do) to make the belt pass thru and extend that upward to provide a stiffening layer to the snap side of the thumb break. I'm sure looking to learn but a couple of good patterns would give me a leg up. Thanks for responding.

Hi all. I'm a fledgling rookie but have built a Ranger Duty belt 2" Wide and .028 thick to be worn as an outer duty belt. I arrived at leather work due to the inability these days to buy duty rigs in natural, tan, or brown, basket weave leather without having to order custom. I'm having a lot of difficulty in finding a pattern to build a thumb break holster designed for wide duty belts as the pancake style slots don't seem like they would work very well with that heavy and wide of a belt. I'm working on designing my own but I know it will be slow and there are some limitations with the little bit of reverse engineering I've explored. Does anyone have any pattern or template options they would be willing to sell? Thanks in advance.